Baja Mess
You gotta feel sorta bad for the marketing staff at Baja Fresh, which cooked up what it thought would be a smart way to introduce the restaurant chain's new line of "Bare Burrito" bowls: E-mail coupons for a free bowl (with purchase of a $1.99 drink).
Problem? The campaign worked too well. Friends sent the e-mail to other friends, who forwarded it to co-workers, etc. Suddenly everyone was getting their free bowls at Baja Fresh. Again and again. That's right-- because it was an email coupon, you could print it out countless times.
Hell, that's what I've been doing. I've bought at least eight bowls. My desk is covered in plastic Baja Fresh sippy cups. And it's not over. The bright marketers at Baja Fresh decided to conduct the campaign through September 20!
The chain obviously didn't realize what it had unleashed until it was too late. A note on the Baja Fresh website is now pleading with consumers to stop abusing the email coupon:
"Thanks for your enthusiasm, but... Our Bare Burrito offer is designed as the coupon clearly states: "Limit one per customer." The e-mail may be used one time only and may NOT be copied and used again and again. Please help us prevent further abuse so that we can continue to make exciting offers available in the future."
Who wants to guess that Baja Fresh won't be sending out "exciting offers" via email again anytime soon...
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